Greenpeace

VIENNA Thomson Financial - Greenpeace activists 'walled in' a branch of one of Austria's largest banks, Erste Bank AG, in the centre of Vienna on this morning in protest against its financing of the Mochovce nuclear plant in Slovakia.

A group of around thirty activists erected a brickwall in front of the bank's main entrance on one of the capital's busy pedestrian zones and called for Erste Bank to cancel its loan to the Slovak utility Slovenske Elektrarne.

Bratislava, November 26 (TASR-SLOVAKIA) - Using the well-known cartoon figure Homer Simpson, the Greenpeace organisation on Monday protested against European Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF) in Bratislava.

According to environmentalists, the meeting is only a promotional platform during which representatives of the nuclear energy industry and representatives of countries exploiting atomic power plants can continue to uncritically reaffirm their current opinions on the advantages of nuclear energy.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.N. efforts to help people affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster two decades ago should focus on rebuilding self-reliance instead of treating them as victims, a U.N. official said on Monday.

The U.N. General Assembly is expected to pass a resolution on Tuesday saying U.N. activity in the region must move beyond humanitarian assistance in favor of a focus on development.

Activists chained themselves to the main entrance gate at the plant in Cáceres.

A Greenpeace protest outside the Almaraz nuclear plant in Cáceres on Thursday blocked the main access for a number of hours, as activists demanded that the Spanish government put in place its ‘promised plan to abandon nuclear energy.’

While Hungarian citizens are getting more conscious about environmental issues and more interested in companies’ environmental record, an environmentally responsible image often remains an empty PR exercise, said Greenpeace spokesperson Szabina Mózes. “It looks interesting when we see an advertisement in which the Paks Nuclear Plant Zrt is photographed in a beautiful green environment, saying that this is ‘The energy of the future,’ but it’s hardly believable that nuclear energy is a clean solution.” Paks Nuclear Power Plant Zrt has also sponsored radio programs dedicated to environmental issues; positive action to be sure, Mózes opined, but such activities do not make nuclear energy environmentally friendly, nor do people believe they do. Mózes went on to say that such PR efforts may even result in a growing skepticism of consumers who have already learned not to believe in advertising.

In Slovakia, plans by Canadian company Tournigan Gold Corporation to open a uranium mine near the Eastern city of Kosice have met with strong opposition from locals. Almost 16,000 people signed a petition requiring the Ministry of Environment not to authorize the project.